Touching the Rock is a unique exploration of that distant, infinitely strange ‘other world’ of blindness. John Hull writes of odd sounds and echoes, of people without faces, of a curious new relationship between waking and dreaming, of a changed perception of nature and human personality. He reveals a world in which every human experience – eating and lovemaking, playing with children and buying drinks in the bar – is transformed.

‘The incisiveness of Hull’s observation, the beauty of his language, make this book poetry; the depth of his reflection turns it into phenomenology or philosophy.’Oliver Sacks, neurologist and bestselling author (1933-2015)

‘He lets us see with no trace of self-pity or self-praise how blindness has become for him a genuine acquisition, an unforeseeably rich gift that has made of him what so few of us are: excellent watchers and hearers of the world . . . triumphant in the teeth of ruin.’Reynolds Price, American novelist (1933–2011)

Notes on Blindness, a feature film and virtual reality experience by Peter Middleton & James Spinney based on John's original audio diaries. The project is an Archer’s Mark Production in association with Fee Fie Foe Films and 104 Films in co-production with Agat Films & Cie/Ex Nihilo. www.notesonblindness.co.uk

About the Author

JOHN HULL (1935-2015) was Emeritus Professor of Religious Education at the University of Birmingham and Honorary Professor of Practical Theology in The Queen’s Foundation for Ecumenical Theological Education, Birmingham. In 2012 the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) granted him a Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to the literature of blindness. His writings in education, theology and disability have been translated into a dozen languages.

Press Reviews

John Hull’s account of his 'experience of blindness' is . . . to my mind, a masterpiece.

- Oliver Sacks, neurologist and bestselling author (1933-2015)

This unsentimental memoir of the experiences of a newly blind person provides many insights about the quest for the unified life.

- Publishers Weekly

John Hull goes a long way toward taking us with him through his descent into total blindness . . . He lets us see with no trace of self-pity or self-praise how blindness has become for him a genuine acquisition, an unforeseeably rich gift that has made of him what so few of us are: excellent watchers and hearers of the world . . . triumphant in the teeth of ruin.

- Reynolds Price, American novelist (1933–2011)

In 1983, Hull, a university lecturer who had lived with sight problems from the age of 13, found that the dark discs he had fought for 36 years had finally overwhelmed his sight. The spiritual and emotional reactions to his vision loss form the basis of this poignant memoir, and the many questions he asks contribute to his eventual acceptance of his fate. A richly textured dream life adds to his exploration of the “other world” of blindness, and the understanding and meaning he finds coalesce into a powerful work.